HP dv5235eu Clean Install, No Quickplay?

Hi everyone,

I just bought an HP dv5235eu. Factory settings are available here (portuguese). As I expected, there's a 1gb hidden partition for Quickplay 1, and a 7gb visible partition for system recovery. I bought a 3,5" HDD case for my desktop 80gb disk, so space isn't necessarily an issue (100gb at the notebook+80gb external). However, I was wondering if there are any performance gains with a clean install.

I don't really see the benefit of having Quickplay around. The XP utility enables me to change the shortcuts for the Quickplay hotkeys, which I plan to do. The only thing that makes me insecure is having read the hotkeys go mad if the QP partition is removed. Is there a safe way of deleting it and reinstalling if I regret my actions and want it back?

As for the other stuff: I read that, this being a SATA disk, I should be making a recovery cd with slipstreamed drivers before deleting the recovery partition. How secure is this procedure? Plus, if I actually do that, can I just reinstall/repair XP if it goes bonkers? The Maintenance and Service Guide says that I can create a recovery cd and then delete the partition; I just won't be able to create more recovery cds, but apart from that, any reinstall should go ok. HP doesn't mention the SWStuff.. are they lying or omitting something? All in all, I just need is a cd I can use to repair/reinstall and NOT lose my files in the process.

Either way, if any procedure proves to be too hard, I might as well leave it all be. Two questions now: How can I hide the recovery partition in XP? And what software can be considered "bloatware" and is therefore uninstallable? Is there anything I can/should lose to make the boat sail faster?

Sorry for being long and thanks for any replies!

Pedro Silva

 

Quickplay should be installable, but from what I have heard you will need to create a 1GB partition and install the Quickplay partition before installing any other drivers when you boot into Windows XP for the first time. This works for somewhile some have issues with it. In any case as long as you have burnt the recovery disc's as recommended you should safe and be able to restore back to factory settings.

I hope that you do understand that in order to do a *clean* reinstallation you will need a Windows XP CD. The recovery disc that HP asks you to burn will include every software that HP pre installs. It also will restore the Quickplay and restore partitions. In effect it will bring back the HDD to factory state.

If you do have your own copy of Windows XP, then follow the direction in the guides(see sticky) and follow the directions listed here...
http://www.nliteos.com/guides.html

Slipstreaming is totally safe since you are creating a separate Win XP disc which includes the necessary drivers. SO it wont harm your Win XP disc in any way.

Any software which you dont have any use for can be termed as bloatware. There are some software like Norton antivirus which are so buggy that it is better to remove it and go for other software. HP also includes trial software like MS Office. If you have your own copy or dont use it it can be removed.

 

Thanks! So to check if I got it right, here's a safe procedure:

-Make a dvd (using HP recovery software).
-Make a WinXP dvd using the cd I have from this desktop pc with slipstreamed drivers from the notebook's SWStuff folder (nlite).
-Delete recovery partition, i386, SWStuff folder, etc. Uninstall useless software: Up to 10-15gb are thus freed.

In case of emergency I can
a) Get back to factory settings (granted) OR
b) Repair XP, Make new installation at same HDD, Reinstall.

Questions I still have
-will a) always format my disk and delete my files?
-is b) unsafe/proceed-with-caution with SATA and Quickplay?
-deleting recovery partition and then using a) will let me make recovery dvds again,right?

Thanks again, and sorry if some questions are kinda beginner-level. I was used to (re)installing XP back and forth and keeping my files thanks to the 3 HDDs in my desktop pc. One HDD seems harder to manage.

 

Yes, you can restore back to factory setting as long as you have the HP recovery DVD's(the ones you created).

Yes, if you format the disc, then all data(programs, files/folders...everything) will be lost. So, be sure to make backup of all important data and the SWsetup folder.

I would suggest reading up on the guides located in this forum and slipstreaming information on the web before proeceeding. Using caution is a good thing and will help you get the system running without any issues. In any case you have the recovery discs as a backup. Many people have reinstalled Windows on their dv5000t's(the dv5235eu belongs to the same series)by following the same guides. So read up and you should be able to do the install just fine.

One more thing, HP only allows the user to create the recovery discs only once, so keep them in a safe place.

 

Why is that SWSETUP directory so friggin huge? It's like 3.3 gigs!

 

Reporting back..

I decided to keep the cleen install to whenever some xp malfunction makes me do it. The system appears to run very well after losing all those hp loaders and tray apps. I'm wondering if I can uninstall HP WLAN assistant.. doesn't XP handle that by itself? Also, I turned SWSetup and all folders not XP, Programs, and Documents&Settings to "hidden". Does anyone know if it's safe to un-allocate HP_RECOVERY? Right now, it seems like the simplest way to hide it from my sight as well. I've got a new external drive, which I harvested from my previous pc, and I got no space constraints, so I might as well leave the default settings. I just want to know how to slide them under the radar.

Thanks for the help, and btw, hope anyone can answer on Paleo's question. I was reading another thread that said SW should be burnt on a double layer cd. Why is a bunch of drivers occupying so much space?

 

HP WLan can be deleted. I would just let Windows utility to that job. The recovery partition can be deleted and you can use that space but that space will be a separate partition. If you just want to unallocate that partition then I would just let it be. If you just unallocate it you wont be able to use it in any case and is just a waste of space.

As for the size of the SWSetup folder, it contains all the installation files for every piece of software that comes preinstalled. HP Games, Norton, MS Office, Quickplay, drivers and the rest of the junk. So, naturally the size of the folder is huge.